Head Coach Spotlight

Coach John Westkott is in his 19th season as head coach of both the men's and women's swim teams. He is the first coach at the Academy to coach both men and women and in his time has had marked success. The athletes in his program have represented the Academy well, and earned conference and national accolades.

In April of 2013, Westkott was inducted into the Rhode Island Aquatics Hall of Fame.

In John’s time at the Academy there have been over 50 different individuals achieve NCAA qualifying times, and over 50 school records have been broken. John has coached an NCAA champion, as well as many All-America selectees and honorable mention selectees. There have been four different swimmers selected as NEWMAC athletes of the year since 1999, and two of those were multiple year recipients of that award. The Coast Guard swimmers and divers are consistently some of the best performers at the conference championship and have earned team success.

John has been honored as NEWMAC Coach of the Year six times and the men’s team has won six conference championship (1999, 2001, 2004 and 2006-2008). Seven other seasons the men have been runners up at the NEWMAC meet. The women have consistently improved to being within the top four finishers in recent years.

The men's team has a pheonominal dual meet record of 137-40 for a winning percentage of .774 under Westkott.

The swimmers and divers also boast success in the classroom, with numerous Scholar All-American selections for individuals and as a program. The men won the prestigious Dean’s Trophy in 2011 for highest grade point average at the Academy. There have been many swimmers and divers selected for aviation training directly from the Academy, a prized posting for commissioned ensigns.

Coach Westkott states, “The goal for our program is to offer the individual a challenging environment that allows the athlete to develop in the sport, as well as a future officer and a student. The swimming and diving program has been able to have athletes show dramatic improvement and be successful within the corps of cadets.”

John arrived at the Academy after finishing his Master’s Degree in Education at Springfield College, where he was an assistant coach for the swimming and diving program, and teaching fellow for the Physical Education Department. John graduated with a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Rhode Island in English and History where he swam and played water polo. After graduating, he served as an assistant coach for URI as well as the Rams Swimming Club, the local USS team.

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